USC Upstate gets defensive in win over North Florida

USC Upstate coach Eddie Payne sounded in postgame need of a major medical checkup and that was after his team actually had defeated North Florida 63-57 Thursday in the first of a five-game homestand.It was a much-needed victory for the Spartans, who had dropped three of their last four, but a less than masterful performance had the veteran coach desiring an upgrade.“That was like going to the dentist and pulling teeth to get that win, but I’m real pleased to get it,” Payne said.Later Payne quipped “that’s when my blood pressure went up” after his team squandered its biggest first-half lead by allowing the Ospreys to close out with a 7-0 run leading to the intermission.All in all the Spartans (10-10, 4-3 in the Atlantic Sun) have an opportunity to get real healthy real fast in the conference chase with their next four at home after beginning the night three back in the win column behind Stetson. Upstate has won 18 of its last 21 home games, including 5-2 this season when the losses came by a combined three points.Thursday’s matchup was the opposite of what one would expect from two of the league’s three highest-scoring teams featuring the A-Sun’s second- and third-leading scorers in Upstate’s Torrey Craig (17.4) and UNF’s Parker Smith (16.8).Craig finished with 12 points and Smith with 10, but the most telling statistic was North Florida’s frigid shooting from 3-point range. The Ospreys made just 4 of 29 (13.8 percent), including 1 of 18 in the second half, after entering as the league’s best in both makes (164) and accuracy (36 percent).“We defended the arc very well and Parker Smith didn’t get very many open looks,” Payne said. “We rotated people on him, kept them fresh and never left him because he’s a terrific shooter.”Upstate forward Ricardo Glenn chimed in on Smith saying, “That guy is an excellent shooter and we just tried to latch on and stay in his hip pocket and let him always see two guys. I think the plan worked pretty well.”Fortunately Glenn wasn’t one of those assigned to chase Smith around the perimeter as the Spartans big man had his hands full in the post with his teammates struggling with their jump-shots. Despite attempting only the fourth-most shots on his team, Glenn went 5-for-8 to score a team-high 14 points while grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds with three assists.He had help down low as Jodd Maxey also stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, 10 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots.Both teams shot less than 42 percent and neither side was able to sustain much offensive momentum or get much in transition as the two sides combined for a measly 13 points off the fast break. The Spartans led 40-37 with 14:20 remaining when a 9-2 run, capped by Craig’s 3-pointer, pushed the advantage to 10, but in keeping with the night’s theme they couldn’t sustain the momentum and UNF quickly pulled back to within 49-45.Glenn then scored four points and Craig converted an old-fashioned three-point play for a 56-47 lead with 5:20 to play and this time the Ospreys didn’t have an answer even as Upstate kept the door wide-open with some poor late foul shooting.It was the second time in the evening where the Spartans had trouble closing out a half after losing a nine-point lead late in the first in cutting the advantage to two at the break.“We can’t win big games if we handle the end of the half and the end of the game like we did,” Payne said. “I thought we were casual in both of those circumstances and we’ve got to man up a bit more to get where we need to get as a team.”